After enjoying an electric start to the season following his arrival from Championship side Swansea last summer, Daniel James’ form has tailed off considerably over these past few months.
The Wales international struck three times in his opening four Premier League games for Manchester United, including a strike on his top-flight debut against Chelsea. But ever since those early weeks, it has been rather downhill for the young winger – particularly in terms of delivering an end product.
Aside from his goal in the Europa League against LASK recently, James has been woefully out-of-form, failing to net once in the Premier League since August 31. Despite not having his shooting boots on, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has kept faith in the 22-year-old, but that is perhaps more of an indication of his genuine lack of options than the winger’s excellence.
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James has already played 37 games across all competitions, and with this being his first at Premier League level, he was bound to hit a brick wall, particularly after playing week-in and week-out for a while now. And that is one of the reasons why the Red Devils’ potential swoop for Leon Bailey could help him unlock his true potential.
According to The Daily Express, Chelsea are lining up an £85m move for the Bayer Leverkusen winger, and that United are ready to battle their rivals for it. If they do manage to land him ahead of the Blues, then it could have the added bonus of revitalising James.
Solskjaer would have more options to play with out wide, and rather than having to stick with James, he can bring Bailey into the team and allow the latter to rest more and find his feet again. Further to that, it could also help with the former Swansea ace going under the radar again.
When he first burst onto the scene, he was bit of an unknown entity and there may not have been much expectation on him to produce. It was no surprise that the early weeks were his most successful in a United shirt. Signing Bailey would cause opposition teams and the Red Devils themselves to focus on the Jamaican a lot more, leaving James to come in and do his damage from out of the shadows.
It’s a move that makes a sense on a lot of levels, not least the potential impact it could have on James.
Meanwhile, Man Utd must swoop for this Barcelona star.
